Stripping out acquisitions, disposals, currency effects and fuel, group sales rose 3.2 percent year-on-year, a slight deceleration from 3.4 percent growth in the third quarter.

Casino, whose credit rating was cut to junk by Standard & Poor’s in March 2016, is under pressure to revive profits in its biggest market which is France, where it now makes more than 50 percent of its sales, at a time of slower growth in Brazil.